Matrouh Governorate ( ar, محافظة مطروح ) is one of the

governorates of Egypt Egypt has a centralised system of local government officially called local administration as it is a branch of the Executive. The country is divided into twenty-seven governorates ( '; ; genitive case: ; plural: '), the top tier of local a ...

. Located in the north-western part of the country, it borders

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

. Its capital is

Mersa Matruh Mersa Matruh ( ar, مرسى مطروح, translit=Marsā Maṭrūḥ, ), also transliterated as ''Marsa Matruh'', is a port in Egypt and the capital of Matrouh Governorate. It is located west of Alexandria and east of Sallum on the main highway ...

Municipal divisions

The governorate is divided into municipal divisions with a total estimated population as of July 2017 of 429,370.

Overview

The interior of the Matrouh Governorate is part of Egypt's Western Desert, including the

Siwa Oasis The Siwa Oasis ( ar, واحة سيوة, ''Wāḥat Sīwah,'' ) is an urban oasis in Egypt; between the Qattara Depression and the Great Sand Sea in the Western Desert, 50 km (30 mi) east of the Libyan border, and 560 km (348&nbs ...

, in antiquity known for its shrine to

Amun Amun (; also ''Amon'', ''Ammon'', ''Amen''; egy, jmn, reconstructed as ( Old Egyptian and early Middle Egyptian) → (later Middle Egyptian) → ( Late Egyptian), cop, Ⲁⲙⲟⲩⲛ, Amoun) romanized: ʾmn) was a major ancient Egypt ...

. In the center of the Governorate is the

Qattara Depression The Qattara Depression ( ar, منخفض القطارة, Munḫafaḍ al-Qaṭṭārah) is a depression in northwestern Egypt, specifically in the Matruh Governorate. The depression is part of the Western Desert of Egypt. The Qattara Depressi ...

, descending to 133 metres below sea level. Marsa Matrouh is the ancient grc-koi, Παραιτόνιον ''Paraitónion'',

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

''Paraetonium''. It was the westernmost city of the Ptolemaic Kingdom in the

Hellenistic period In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

. The city of Apis, some 18 km to the west of Paraetonium, marked the boundary to Libycus nome, and the Halfaya Pass (at

Sallum Sallum ( ar, السلوم, translit=as-Sallūm various transliterations include ''El Salloum'', ''As Sallum'' or ''Sollum'') is a harbourside village or town in Egypt. It is along the Egypt/Libyan short north–south aligned coast of the Mediterra ...

) marked the boundary to Marmarica proper. Matrouh Governorate contains many historical sites related to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The latter include

el Alamein El Alamein ( ar, العلمين, translit=al-ʿAlamayn, lit=the two flags, ) is a town in the northern Matrouh Governorate of Egypt. Located on the Arab's Gulf, Mediterranean Sea, it lies west of Alexandria and northwest of Cairo. , it had ...

, which comprises cemeteries of fallen soldiers from Axis and Allied forces. An estimated 16 million mines, planted by the Europeans during the world wars and called "

devil's gardens The Devil's gardens was the name given by Field Marshal () Erwin Rommel, commander of the German during the Second World War, to the defensive entanglements of land mines and barbed wire built to protect Axis defensive positions at El Alamein ...

", still hinder development of most of the governorate, and are constantly being removed. The province has been described as "religiously conservative".

Population

According to population estimates, in 2015 the majority of residents in the governorate lived in urban areas, with an

urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly th ...

rate of 70.6%. Out of an estimated 447,846 people residing in the governorate, 316,005 people lived in urban areas as opposed to only 131,841 in rural areas.

Industrial zone

According to the Egyptian Governing Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI), in affiliation with the Ministry of Investment (MOI), the following industrial zones are located in this governorate: *The industrial zone in K 26

References

External links

El Watan News of Matrouh Governorate
{{Authority control Governorates of Egypt